Unspoken Words and Untranslated Thoughts
by artrip56
Summary: "Innie investigation? I haven't heard anything about the insurrection since the first few days on Onyx..." Lucy thought. She pointed to the chair, hoping Parangosky would know what she meant. "Go ahead Lucy, take a seat. We have a lot to go over anyway." (M/ AU for future chapters. Contains OC's and Canons. If you feel there is something I could add or fix, let me know.)
1. Chapter 1

March 2553

Earth

Sydney Australlia

ONI Bravo 6

Chapter 1

Lucy B091 walked cautiously towards the office of chief hard ass herself, Margaret Parangosky. She had quite the reputation among the soldiers as being a... Bitch to say the least. Lucy never met her for herself though, so she trashed the thoughts and rumors immediately. _I'll save my reservations until after I meet the hard ass _Lucy said to herself. The door came up on her quicker than she thought it would, it seemed so far away just a second ago. She knocked once.  
"Come in B091. I know it's you." A crackly old voice said from in the office.

Lucy opened the door and walked in. She hadn't been called by her identification number in a very long time, everyone she knew and had worked with before had called her Lucy... She closed the door behind her, and took 3 steps in, and stood at attention. She was in the company of an Admiral, and didn't want to feel rude. Especially if the rumors were true. _The last thing I'd need is to be on the bad side of a bitch. Even worse than that though, I'd hate to be on the bad side of an ONI spook, and she's both _Lucy thought.  
"At ease 091." Parangosky looked her over, and stood, and circled around the 5.2 foot tall Spartan III, as she slowly relaxed, but still remained stiff. "Even though I was part of the decision making of the III program, I've never been in the company of one. Especially one that would punch the scientist that made the Spartan II project possible in the face, for antagonizing a Huragok. I applaud you for that by the way 091. I've wanted to punch Halsey in the face for a very long time... I'm glad someone did though. I was elated to hear." Parangosky sat down behind her desk again, and turned her chair to look out the window. "Are you going to speak? Or stand there looking pretty, 091." Lucy didn't answer, she was used to not speaking, it was her own choice not to speak anyway. After the loss of her friends, and family, she hadn't spoke. She didn't like to. It actually hurt her to speak, it hurt her throat, and the words that came out sounds gurgled.

"I know why you don't speak." A tiny holographic box appeared infront of her, on Parangosky's desk. "Oops, silly me. I don't think we've met before Lucy, my name is Black Box, or B.B. for short. I'm the Smart A.I. designated to Parangosky. It is so very nice to meet you."

Parangosky chuckled and turned back around to face Lucy and B.B. who was now floating around the room freely. "I know why you don't speak as well. Mendez, Kelly, and Fred made remarks in their reports about how you spoke before you punched my best friend in the mouth" she said sarcastically. "I wanted to see if your dry spell was over, and if you'd talk to me." Lucy shook her head, and started to look down. "Don't worry 091, it's fine you don't speak. The silent ones are always more dangerous." Lucy perked up a little and looked Parangosky back in the eye, and saw B.B. dancing and twirling around in her peripheral vision. "I asked you here today, to see if you'd like to be sent on a special mission. As well as receive your very own A.I, and a set of your own MJOLNIR armor." Lucy looked a little more intrigued. _My own A.I.? Mjolnir armor? Those special items were given to II's, not III's those aren't things that the UNSC or ONI handed out for any reason__... _Lucy pondered this, and looked back at the Admiral who was watching her.

"Well, you seem intrigued. Let me tell you then, why I asked you here, then, you can give me your answer." Parangosky said, starting to speak again before B.B. Spoke.

"Lucy, do you like to be called that, or your identification number better?" B.B. Stopped twirling and dancing for a minute. Lucy nodded and pointed to herself. "Admiral, would you please call Lucy, her name instead of her identification number?"

Parangosky shot a menacing glare over to B.B's hologram. "Yes, I will." She sneered. Using Lucy's real name would make things harder for her, especially with the mission she was going to be assigning her. III's were expendable... Not soldiers meant to return home to big parades and welcomes. That's why war orphans were used. If they died, no one would notice. "Lucy, I have a special mission for you. Lately, ONI has been hearing chatter on old innie radio frequencies."

B.B. Interjected again, "Innies, or, insurrectionists were part of the colony rebellion before the Covenant war. It was before your time, anyway."

Parangosky shot another glare at B.B.'s hologram, and he quickly vanished. Parangosky cleared her throat and continued, "All priority teams we would've sent on this mission are otherwise engaged right now. So we needed to find someone who wasn't. A Spartan is perfect for the job. We need you to find where the chatter is coming from, and investigate it, Lucy."

_Innie investigation? I haven't heard anything about the insurrection since the first few days on Onyx... _Lucy thought. She pointed to the chair, hoping Parangosky would know what she meant.

"Go ahead Lucy, take a seat. We have a lot to go over anyway." Parangosky took her own advice and sat back down as well, and looked at Lucy, and tapped her desk twice and B.B. reappeared.

"Yes ma'am?" B.B. said almost singing.

"Pull up the files on augmentation and Mjolnir so Lucy and I can go over what she'll be getting into."

"Okay, one moment." B.B. started to flicker, and the light binary you could see on him if you focused hard enough started to roll faster across him. Suddenly, more holograms appeared on Parangosky's desk, and one by one all unimportant files and reports filtered out.

"This one is the I was looking for, actually." Parangosky said as she pulled the one file off her desk into her data pad. She flicked around the pages and stopped and started to read to herself, mumbling inaudibly. "Lucy, are you sure you want to go through with this? The III's underwent slightly lessened operations than that of the II's, and frankly, I'm not sure what could happen if we put you through the same operations as the II's."

Lucy thought for a moment, she heard the rumors about the Master Chief from Mendez, Kelly, and Fred, how he was a very lucky person, and how he was a great solider. She wanted to be like him, she aspired to be a true Spartan. She desperately wanted this to happen. Lucy nodded and smiled faintly, and even Parangosky shared in the smile.

"B.B. Make arrangements for the procedure. We send Lucy to the orbital station at 0:00 hours to undergo the operations. Also, put in word to get production set on another smart A.I. We need one for Lucy. Also, get a leftover suit from the II's project, and revamp it, put all the advances we have into it. Damn things are nearly 30 years old." Parangosky's voice trailed off for a moment, then she snapped back to attention and said "Also, put contact into the others I talked to you about, we'll brief them and get them up to speed."

Lucy seemed let down a little, she wanted to work by herself. It was going to be hard to work with people when she didn't speak.

"Lucy, I suggest you start getting packed. After your operations, you will need to relearn how to control your body. It'll be hard, new body mass, quicker reaction times... You'll be a II."  
She shuddered at the thought of being compared before she had a chance to prove herself, but she may as well get used to it. Lucy stood, and saluted Parangosky, and started to turn to leave before Parangosky said "I never really liked the III's, or the II's... But I had some favorites... And I'm glad to say you were one of them, Lucy. Good luck..." Lucy turned to look at her and nodded slightly, and walked out of the office, back towards her barracks.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

March 2553

In Orbit Around Earth

ONI Medical and Military Training Facility

"Lucy, time to wake up." A distant voice kept repeating itself over and over, like an annoying alarm clock that didn't have a snooze button.

Lucy tried to find the proverbial snooze button but never found one, instead, she ended up rolling out of the bed. Even though gravity was lessened due to being in orbit, she still hit the ground pretty hard. _Damn, that hurt... _She thought, rubbing her eyes and starting to stand up. She hadn't quite realized that the procedures added an extra foot to her original height. From 5 foot 2, all the way to 6 foot 2. She stood up too quickly, giving herself a head rush. She needed to sit, she needed some water. She finally opened her eyes fully and sat on the bed again. She surveyed the room, finding nothing more than a normal looking barracks. There was a container of water, floating around, lid on tight so none leaked out. She tried getting up to get it, but met nerve pains, muscle aches, and an instant headache that put her on the floor. _What's going on...? _She thought, sitting back on the bed. She heard the voice again.

"Move slowly, you just underwent augmentation remember? You've been out for almost 3 days, just solid sleep." The voice didn't seem to be originating from anywhere. Had she not known better, Lucy would've thought it was a ghost instead of an AI talking through the speakers. "You'll need to just walk around slow, get a feel for things again. Your body, reaction time, and everything else you were used to has changed. Just take it slow Lucy... I'm here to walk you through it every step of the way."

Lucy nodded, knowing the AI could see her moving around, and making a fool of herself rushing her recovery. She sat for a moment to gather her bearings.

"Think about what you want to do, and do it slowly." The AI said to her, sounding very patient.

Lucy nodded slowly to start taking the advice more seriously. She sat, and thought about standing up, and did so very slowly. The pain was excruciating and she didn't remember feeling anything like this with her augmentation. _Is this the pain that the II's felt? I just gained a little bit more respect for them... _Lucy slowly started to walk, the pain lessening with each step, not a lot, but only a little. Just enough she didn't wince every time she slightly moved. She finally made it to the water, and ripped off the lid and downed it. It felt good. It was a very nice feeling to have cold water trickle down her dry throat. After a moment, she started to walk around, with more grace and ease. After about 15 minutes she was doing push ups with one hand, and was kicking quicker than she could before. The pain was starting to go away, and she was starting to get the hang of things again.

The doors opened, and a woman in a white lab coat walked in and smiled at Lucy. "How are you feeling? Everything okay?"

Lucy nodded, looking down at the woman who was not an inch taller than 5 foot 7. Lucy wasn't used to looking down at people. It was an odd feeling. Usually she was looking up at them.

"That's good to hear Lucy, I'm glad you're making a speedy recovery. We added our own mix to your bone marrow, to make you heal faster. Faster platelet and nerve response. Its quite remarkable how quickly you were able to start moving so well again."

Lucy pondered that, _I even received a treatment that the II's haven't..._

"It was a test we did on the very latest generation of IV's. It saves biofoam for things that need it more, instead of every time say... A piece of shrapnel gets lodged into you. Your healing time is up 15% more now, than the average human of course." The scientist started to look Lucy over, scrutinizing her every visible inch. "It seems you don't have any abnormal bumps or growths, so the operations were 100% success!" The scientist was enthralled with this. She started to type on her data pad she had hidden in her coat. "You may change into the clothes we have set aside for you in the lockers, Lucy. And please, meet me on deck 6 in 15 minutes." The scientist smiled at her and walked out of the room.

Lucy did as suggested and changed into the clothes. She noticed instantly the all too familiar under armor for the Mjolnir suit. She missed it. She put it on, making sure it fit her perfectly. _This one is made for my new height... I like being tall... I feel a lot more like a spartan..._ Lucy started to head towards the door, and to the nearest elevator. She saw a few ODST's who gave her some dirty looks. _ODST's never took kindly to spartans, they didn't really take kindly to anyone but their kind really... All stuck up, the ones I've met anyway... _She then thought back to Kilo-Five, the people whom she met when Halsey was taken into Custody. She remembered there were 3 ODST's on that squad... And a Spartan II... Those ODST's seemed nice, and they got along with the Spartan... _Had a lot of distain for Halsey though, especially that guy with the scar on his face..._ She snapped back to reality as the elevator dinged meaning she was on the 6th deck. She walked out onto the deck, seeing a obstacle course, and 2 sets of Mjolnir armor.

She heard the familiar AI voice saying "Welcome to deck 6, Lucy. We're going to outfit you with your Mjolnir armor, teach you to use this advanced set, and then introduce you to your new AI! Exciting isn't it?!"

She saw the scientists get the armor ready. Both sets infact... _Why two sets...?_

"Choose one. You can either have the white suit, with the pink pinstripes, or the black suit, with the red pinstripes."

_They made two sets...? For what? Why two colors?_ Lucy chose the white suit, and stood infront of it, ready for the fitting process.

The scientist came up to her and said "Remember Lucy, don't move, breathe slowly, and let the suit take form. If you move, there's a chance it won't seal correctly, and cause... Problems."

Lucy heard the stories of the unlucky marines who met their demise in these suits, so she remained motionless. The arms and feet were first, then the hands and legs. Then the back and chest. The rest came after those main areas. She was handed the helmet.

"With this suit, your reaction time is greatly increased. Significantly faster than your old suit, about 3 times as fast to be exact. So I want you to slowly put your helmet on. It'll be a good test to start. Slow, remember. Slow and steady wins the race Lucy."

Lucy followed instructions and slowly put on her helmet, and as soon as she did, the HUD lit up. It looked very different than before. Rewritten software she guessed, and slowly took her first steps. Clumsy, but they were steps nonetheless. She moved about the deck slowly at first, then getting to a jog, then a full fledged sprint. She started to move her hands and fingers, getting the movements quicker and with less thought each time she repeated them.

The scientists watched in amazement. It could've been because Lucy had already gone through these processes before that gave her a leg up, or she was just a quick learner. Either way, she impressed the whole deck.

"Lucy, would you like to meet your AI? While you were asleep, we took the liberty of upgrading your neural link and transmitter. All we have to do is make the connections with your suit and you can meet her. Lucy nodded and sat on the nearest table. The scientists worked quick, and she didn't feel a thing. "All set." said the scientist, who she figured out was named Laurel. "Bring her in please?" Laurel asked one of the other scientists.

After a few moments, the gravity intensified, to Earths normal intensity, and the scientist came back with the AI. He handed the chip over to Laurel, and Laurel smiled. "She's brand new, just a baby actually, well... To us anyway. She was only created yesterday. You two take good care of eachother okay...?" Laurel handed the chip to Lucy, and Lucy put the chip into the slot of her helmet. She got dizzy for a moment, and then saw a girl standing in the corner of her HUD, smiling at her. She was a very pretty girl, too. She had long hair, and wore what looked to be a sundress.

"I'm Tala, its nice to meet you Lucy." She said. It sounded to be coming from her head, like a voice in the back of her mind. Time seemed to stop around Lucy, everyone just backed off and went about their work, like she wasn't even there.

Lucy thought, _How am I going to communicate with her...? I don't speak..."_

Tala laughed a little, "I'm in your head silly, I can hear your thoughts. We're going to get along great Lucy. I just know it." She smiled brightly. Tala was a very happy AI, very happy. It was nice having someone around that had a really nice positive attitude.

_Is there anything I should know, Tala...? Like any side effects of having an AI lodged into my brain? _

"No, not towards you Lucy. Towards me, yes, over time though. AI's don't really have feelings, but being paired with a human like this, we can gain them over time. I'm not sure if it's a bad thing though... I'm sorry I don't know a lot about it, not many data caches on it within the areas I'm allowed into with ONI's network."

_It's okay Tala, its perfectly fine. We'll learn together as we go. And that will be fun._ Lucy thought, knowing Tala could hear it.

The next thing they knew, a second person came into the room. "I'm ready for the testing" she said. That's when Lucy met her new teammate, Catrina.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

April 2553

In Orbit Around Earth

ONI Medical and Military Training Facility

"That fucking hurts you stupid bitch!" Catrina was screaming in agony and moving around while the suit was forming to her body. The scientists stopped their work and took the armor plating off Catrina, and gave her time to cool down.

"She's never done this before... She's brand new to the UNSC, and underwent augmentation a day after you... She's not entirely recovered yet, either, she's trying to rush it" Tala said to Lucy in the back of her mind.

_Why are they proceeding on giving her the suit if she isn't even fully healed...? It doesn't make sense Tala, it seems like a waste of solider..._

"I agree Lucy... I wonder why they're proceeding."

They both watched from the corner of the room as Catrina finally calmed down enough and didn't move long enough the armor could form fit her. She started to move around slowly, similar to the way that Lucy did until she finally got the hang of it.

_Is she a IV, Tala?_

"No. She was just pulled off of Infinity for this. Her file is blacked out to me... ONI censorship really bothers me sometimes..."

Tala was starting to sound like a solider who was on the field behind enemy lines without any intel, proverbially 'up shit creek without a paddle.'

"Catrina, would you run the obstacle course for us please?" The familiar AI voice said over the speakers of the deck.

_Whats the AI's name, Tala?_ Lucy thought.

"Gamma. He's been in service of this station for 6 years. He's a very nice AI." Tala said to her.

They watched as Catrina blew through the course in a minute flat. Lucy was impressed.

"This armor is very nice, brainiacs, thank you." Catrina nodded off to the scientists as she took off her helmet and strutted over towards Lucy. "I'm Catrina, its nice to meet you."

Lucy put out her hand to shake with Catrina, and Tala used the suits speakers to introduce themselves to her. "I'm Tala, and the Spartan is Lucy. She doesn't speak..." Catrina shook Lucy's hand.

"I know... I was friends with Min..." Catrina said as she let go of Lucy's hand.

Lucy started to have dark thoughts, remembering in bitter and exact timing of everything that happened that day when they were escaping the core explosion. Lucy sat down, and put her head in her hands.

"Lucy, its okay... Please, don't blame yourself. They were just doing their duty, they were doing as a Spartan, hell, even any other solider would..." Tala tried comforting Lucy, and it seemed to work.

Catrina watched for a moment and walked towards Laurel. "I was told something about an AI of my own?"

"Yes, would you mind bringing that in Eric?" Laurel said to the other scientist who left, and came back and handed the chip to Catrina. She stuck the chip into her helmet and put the helmet back on, and conversed with the AI for a few moments.

"Her AI's name is Elliot... My brother." Tala said to Lucy.

_Brother? _Lucy questioned.

"In a sense. We were created the same day, and Laurel said 'Look, a brother and sister AI' to her colleagues jokingly, but I decided to run with it anyway since we'd be on the same squad."

Lucy thought about that a moment. She knew that AI's came from donors with extremely intelligent minds... What if there were a brother and sister genius pair that donated their minds to be used for the creation of the AI's? Would they still act as close as they did when they were human? No... All memories and feelings are wiped, they're just data... The thinking and all the possibilities were starting to make Lucy's head hurt. So she focused on Catrina. Lucy took her helmet off and walked over to her, and patted her shoulder.

"You and I should do a war games run, Lucy. It'd be fun. Parangosky wants you to be squad leader. I have no objections, I know what you're capable of, but I want to experience it myself dear." Catrina spoke softly, and quietly in a tone that Lucy had yet to hear from her.

Lucy nodded, and smiled at Catrina and put her helmet back on. _Where will the war games be held, Tala? _

"Deck 14. I don't know why you're going through with this, but I don't know why I want to object. I'll finally get to be of some real use to you. I can double your reaction speed more than the suit, and provide much more insight as to whats going on, and help you through the fight more."

_Aww, you sweetheart. _Lucy thought. _Remind me to treat you to something later, okay? _

"I don't know how you'd treat me, but okay, I'll do that." Tala smiled at Lucy in the corner of her HUD, as Lucy walked to the elevator with Catrina.

"I haven't had a lot of time to get used to my augmentations or anything Lucy, so dial it back just a touch." Catrina said sarcastically as they got to deck 14. Catrina keyed the computer screen and set up a simple 5 point war game.

"First to five wins darling, are you ready?" Catrina asked Lucy.

She nodded, and walked off to one side of the field and grabbed the assault rifle and pistol, and loaded in the stun rounds. The countdown started, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

All was quiet for a moment, then Lucy saw her indicator light up. Run, she thought, and sped around one corner to take cover.

_She's quick Tala, give me a time estimate next time she pings on radar._

"Will do, Lucy. 4 seconds, approaching from your left, working her way up... Now! Above you!"

Lucy shot upwards, shooting Catrina in the legs. She came crashing to the ground, and Lucy became the ruthless little III she was, and shot her in the head. She looked at the score board as Catrina vanished and was brought back to the other side, 1 point for her. 4 more to go. She was confident.

This time, things went differently. Before Lucy or Tala detected Catrina on the indicator, they were face to face. It came down to who could draw their weapon quicker. Wait, no time Lucy thought. She noticed quickly the Catrina was drawing her knife, Lucy took hold of Catrina's arms and grappled her until the knife was pressed against Catrinas chest. 2 points Lucy...

The war game continued for another 15 minutes, Catrina getting more sporadic, and unpredictable. The final score was 5-4, with Lucy winning because she was quicker, and lighter. It was a fist fight for that point, Lucy had pinned down Catrina and started to wale on her.

Lucy helped Catrina up, and they both took of their helmets, panting, yet smiling at eachother.

"You're quick, adaptable, and resourceful." Catrina said, referring to the rock Lucy had used to beat her down to get her third point when Catrina gained 2 on her. "I'm proud and honored to be in the same league, and on the same squad as you, Lucy."

Lucy blushed a little, she's never really been flattered before. It was a nice feeling. They both walked back to the barracks together, and didn't say a word to eachother until the next day, when they were sent back to Bravo 6 for briefing.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

April 2553

Sydney Australia

ONI Bravo 6

Lucy had already figured what was coming. A briefing on what planets and such they'd be visiting and poking at the hives to see what came out. Bees, wasps, or hornets. She never expected the team to be full of Spartan hating hell jumpers though, that wasn't in any thought she had. They looked familiar though... _These are the ones from the Medical Facility!_ Lucy thought.

"Ma'am" one said with a strong Australian accent, "do we really have to be assigned to a team with two of the test tube freaks?!"

"If you don't change your attitude I'll have you taken out the back door, all of you. These two fine young ladies have never done anything but what they were told and ordered to. They are soldiers, not unlike you, and they'll be the ones saving your asses cuz we all god damn well know by now that ODST's shoot first and think later. At least these, 'test tube freaks' think before they act, and play the game 10 steps ahead of everyone else." Parangosky barked.

_So, the rumors are true... _Lucy thought. She didn't have Tala linked in because her suit was in her barracks right next to Catrina. They shared the room. They really did make fast friends. _I wonder what she's being so nice to me for... She seemed like a hard ass at first. Oh well. She's good enough. _Lucy looked around the room, and noticed an ODST looking at her softly, when their eyes met he looked away and back at Parangosky with a red face.

"Any more objections?" Parangosky looked at the 4 ODST's sitting at the table. "No? Okay, good." She smiled and walked around the table with her cane as her crutch. "B.B., please, do the honors."

"Well, it should be pretty self explanatory." B.B. said in his sarcastic tone he uses with everyone. "The mission is simple, we've since made some adjustments since you were rounded up, though. We do not want you to interfere with Venezia. Kilo Five has that bit under control, and that is theirs to have, and no one elses. We want you, the new Zeta Company to watch over the Kig Yar, and Brutes on remote planets. We heard whispers of some trouble brewing with them, and want to see if they are going to any trouble like the innies. Also, we want you to keep your eyes and ears open for any at all innie transmissions. Anything that does not have UNSC or ONI tags on it, you track the source, find it, tag it, and leave to investigate from afar. We don't want to make anything more difficult than it has to be." B.B. started to spin around on the table and did a flip. "Well, that's the mission."

Parangosky clapped amused with the show B.B. put on. "Oh, excellent show my dear friend. Anyway, squad leader is Lucy B091. Oh, by the way you are hereby promoted to Petty Officer First Class, congratulations Lucy." She gave her a slight smile. "Now, I will get your ship prepared. An old ONI bucket of bolts that was used for undercover operations. Needs to have some of our new Huragok friends play with it. Preparations should be finished in 48 hours. I have a list of things our little friends will need to get on the bucket. Good day Marines, and Spartans." Parangosky nodded to them and left the room.

Lucy looked at Catrina and smiled. The ODST that gave her the soft look came up to her and saluted. He was a sergeant.

"Sergeant Timothy Jurggins reporting Ma'am." He stood at attention, hand back at his side.

Catrina giggled. "At ease boy. Lucy doesn't speak." She waved to the other two ODST's. "Do you two not have names or am I gonna have to assign one to each of you and tattoo them to your foreheads?" She had a much more serious look on her face than a second before.

Lucy looked at her and thought _So, that's only an act... She's actually a softy. Interesting. _Lucy smiled softly at Timothy, and got one in return.

One of the ODST's said "I'm Private Ivan Shanum, nice to make your acquaintance." He laughed and walked over to Catrina and shook her hand. He was a big Russian man, burly and deep toned. He walked over to Lucy and shook her hand as well, and slapped the Sarge on the back and smiled.

_Another softy... Huh.. Lucy thought._

"How about you, Mr. Test Tube..." Catrina gave him a more dirty look, and he started to stutter and shake.

"Specialist Gregory Irving." he said in his strong Australian accent.

Lucy and Catrina met eyes and nodded at eachother.

"Would you all like to go out with us for a brew? Let's bond. We're gonna be stuck together for a while, and we all need to meet common ground." Catrina smiled at everyone and looked at Gregory. "You're invited too..." She said to him with the bright smile that Lucy had gotten used to, and attached to over night. "We don't bite... We may be 'freaks' but we can't change that, Gregory. I'm sorry you feel so strongly against us, but we're gonna need to forget differences... We're all ONI now." she said to him with a slight smile.

Gregory seemed to mull it over for a minute, and all eyes in the room were on him. "I'd love to.. Thank you." He followed everyone out, and they all headed to the nearest bar for a night of brews, and chatter.

Bravo 6

Parangosky's Office

"They all went to a bar, ma'am. They're gonna try to hit it off." B.B. said with a slight chuckle.

"They'll get along B.B., you forget who picked the team." She said and laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

April 2553

Sydney, Australia

Earth

En Route To Barracks

Lucy and Timothy walked back to the barracks together. They stayed at the bar a little later than everyone else. Timothy liked looking at Lucy and talking to her. He knew she didn't speak, but he knew why thanks to Catrina, and he was willing to work with that. He liked her, a lot. She listened, and he knew she did because of the way Lucy looked at him when he spoke.

"I had fun talking to you and getting a feel for you and the rest of the squad, Captain. I appreciate you and Catrina picking up the tab and offering us to come along. When Gregory comes around, which he's already started to, we'll be fine, and we'll be the best of friends." Timothy said with a grin.

Lucy smiled at him and slightly nodded. _He's cute, but I shouldn't get involved with him. Especially not while on missions... Although..._ Lucy looked him over again and smiled at him and got a smile back. _He's too cute to pass up... _

"I'll see you in the morning Lucy, okay? I'll be waiting right here, and we'll all meet up to go out for a bite. On me and Ivan. Alright?" He grinned brightly at her and held his arms open for a hug.

_I don' t really like hugs, but I'll make the exception for him and Catrina I guess... _Lucy embraced Timothy in a hug for a moment or two, they both lost count of the time, and pulled away from eachother blushing.

"G'night ma'am" Timothy said and turned away and hurried off to his barracks.

_He looked slightly red... Did I? I don't feel like I was... Whatever. I wonder what Catrina and Elliot and Tala are up to... _Lucy thought about the possibilities with Timothy as she walked back to her barracks where Catrina was waiting for her, grinning ear to ear.

"I've seen how he looks at you, and before I left, I saw how you looked at him. You like him don't you?" Catrina laughed and stood up and hugged Lucy tight. "My little Lucy likes a sergeant, and one under her command no less. Lucky gal lucky gal. Could damn near ask him to drop to his knees and lick from your toes to your thighs if you wanted to." She said jokingly and laughed hysterically. She was like a guy telling all the dirty jokes he knew to his friends.

Lucy smiled bright, choking back the laughter. It didn't just hurt to speak, it hurt to make any vocal noise really..

"So, what kind of toys you think Parangosky put on her shopping list for us? I hope its one of those fancy new slipspace drives... I've heard that you can accurately pinpoint where you're going to drop, and what time. There's no more of that guessing... Maybe some of those new coms channels too... The ones that work in slipspace! Think Parangosky will even give us our own Huragok? That'd be the best!" Catrina kept going about the new gadgets and gizmos she wanted on their new buggy, and just wished for so much.

_I hope we just get something that doesn't explosively decompress... That'd be the shitter now wouldn't it... _Lucy said to herself.

They all fell asleep for the night, wondering what would come in the morning. Lucy was woken up by Catrina who shook her awake violently saying "Let's go, we gotta get suited up, Parangosky wants us to get on the bus and bang out in 30."

Lucy jumped up and stood on the station that equipped the armor for her after putting on her under suit, piece by piece her armor attached to her body. _This is starting to seem so normal now... At first I wasn't used to how the armor sat because of the bone structure and density they have given me now... It's starting to seem like I could've been a II if I was around for it... _She thought to herself.

"It's still hard to get used to how the armor sits. Did you have this problem when you first started with it?" Catrina looked to Lucy for a nod. She didn't get one, all she got was a flash on her HUD to signify that she had agreed. "Well, this gonna be how we talk from now on?" Catrina said as she inserted Elliot's AI holding chip into her neural link on the back of her skull.

This time, Catarina got Talas voice talking to her, reading what Lucy was thinking. "You didn't have your helmet on when I flashed the light. I wasn't really able to move my head the machine was holding me quite still." Tala started to talk to Elliot about what kind of information they have, which didn't amount to much. "He Catarina," Tala said, "weren't we supposed to meet up with the boys at a restaurant or something to have breakfast together?"

"Welcome to the UNSC Tala, plans change very quickly when hanging around the Marines and Spartans." Catrina replied with a wink. "Besides, I don't want little Lucy here too close to her little crush." She said with a laugh.

Lucy thought it was funny, but it made her blush. _She's right... I have a crush on him, and I want nothing more than to feel his body against mine... _"I heard that..." Tala said. "Don't worry this is just between us now, it's in your mind not the coms." _Well, now you know my little secret... Ugh, you're so intrusive. _"That's the upside to having a smart AI ma'am, I always know what's going on and what's being thought by my host." Her image flickered a smile.

Lucy and Catrina both headed out into the hall and sprinted to the hangar bays.


End file.
